Origin (TV series)

{{Infobox television

| image = OriginTitleScreen.png

| genre = {{Plainlist|

}}

| creator = Mika Watkins

| writer =

| starring = {{Plainlist|

Natalia Tena
Tom Felton
Sen Mitsuji
Nora Arnezeder
Fraser James
Philipp Christopher
Madalyn Horcher
Siobhán Cullen

}}

| composer = Edmund Butt

| country = United States

| language = English

| num_seasons = 1

| num_episodes = 10

| list_episodes =

| executive_producer = {{Plainlist|

}}

| producer = {{Plainlist|

John Phillips
Alice Pearse

}}

| location =

| cinematography = {{Plainlist|

David Higgs
Birgit Bebe Dierken
Guilio Biccari
Martin Fuhrer

}}

| editor =

| camera = Single-camera

| runtime = 41–60 minutes

| company = {{Plainlist|

CiTVC
Midnight Radio
{{nowrap|Sony Pictures Television}}
Left Bank Pictures

}}

| network = YouTube Premium

| first_aired = {{Start date|2018|11|14}}

| last_aired =

}}

Origin is an American science fiction drama series created by Mika Watkins that premiered on November 14, 2018, on YouTube Premium. Watkins also serves as a writer for the series and executive produces alongside Andy Harries, Rob Bullock, Suzanne Mackie, Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner, and Scott Rosenberg. On March 25, 2019, YouTube cancelled the series after one season.

Premise

Origin follows "a group of strangers stranded on a spacecraft bound for a distant planet. The abandoned passengers must work together for survival, but quickly realize that one of them is far from who they claim to be."{{cite web|last1=Tartaglione|first1=Nancy|title='Origin' Sci-Fi Series From 'The Crown' Producers Set For YouTube Red In 2018|url=https://deadline.com/2017/10/origin-sci-fi-series-youtube-red-left-bank-sony-china-international-television-corporation-the-crown-producers-to-debut-on-youtube-red-in-2018-1202194326/|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=February 6, 2018|date=October 25, 2017}}

Cast and characters

=Main=

Natalia Tena as Lana Pierce
Tom Felton as Logan Maine
Sen Mitsuji as Shun Kenzaki
Nora Arnezeder as Evelyn Rey
Adelayo Adedayo as Agnes "Lee" Lebachi
Fraser James as Dr. Henri Gasana
Philipp Christopher as Baum Arndt
Madalyn Horcher as Abigail Garcia
Siobhán Cullen as Katie Devlin

=Recurring=

Wil Coban as Max Taylor
Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as Eric Carlson
Nina Wadia as Venisha Gupta
Maurice Carpede as Anthony Frost
Clayton Evertson as Alan Young
David Sakurai as Murakawa
Hiromoto Ida as Hideto Yagami
Aidan Whytock as Jonas Arends
Millie Davis as Ruby Touré
Ray Fearon as Omar Touré
Nic Rasenti as Mike Gore

=Guest=

Tara Fitzgerald as Xavia Grey ("The Road Not Taken")
Anna Skellern as Jennifer Moore ("Bright Star")
Belén Fabra as Captain Sanchez ("Bright Star")
Jamie Quinn as Crosby ("Bright Star")
Nathalie Boltt as Laura Kassman ("God's Grandeur")
Aglaia Szyszkowitz as Margo Von Platen ("Fire and Ice")
Anthony Paul as Caspar Von Platen ("Fire and Ice")
Francis Chouler as Police Guard ("Fire and Ice")
Togo Igawa as Eiichi Yagami ("The Wasteland")
Fionnula Flanagan as Mia Anderson ("Funeral Blues")
Alana Boden as Ayko ("Remember Me")
Daniel Arreola ("Bright Star")

Episodes

{{Episode table |background=#000000|overall= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate= |episodes=

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 1

|Title = The Road Not Taken

|DirectedBy = Paul W. S. Anderson

|WrittenBy = Mika Watkins

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|14}}

|ShortSummary = Shun, a Japanese man, wakes up from hypersleep at a spaceship named Origin bringing him to a planet five light-years away named Thea. He was invited to live there by the SIREN Corporation to free himself from his job as a yakuza of syndicate Yagami-kai, initially suggested by brother Takeshi, who also registered for the trip but was killed by the Yagami-kai upon legal issues. He sees a shadow moving, which the group—Lana Pierce, Logan, Eric, Abigail, Lee, Henri Gasana, Vaneisha, and Katie—frequently sees. They roam around searching for anyone. While Lana, Shun, and a man go to the upper floor, another man in the same floor curiously presses a ladder retractor button, causing the man going up to fall and die. Shun and Lana learn that the solar sail is damaged. The group picks up a crew's signal, prompting four to search for him, while a woman investigates, and learns that there was an emergency evacuation that somehow left them. Shun and Lana enter a room where something hit the ship and finds a psychotic man, while the other two revives a crew named Evelyn Rey, who warns that the man inside the room is harmful.

|LineColor = 000000

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 2

|Title = Lost On Both Sides

|DirectedBy = Paul W. S. Anderson

|WrittenBy = Mika Watkins

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|14}}

|ShortSummary = Before registering for the trip, Lana was the bodyguard of the family of controversial American Senator Omar Toure, with whom she fell in love. He had a daughter named Ruby with whom she quickly got along with, but when a shooting occurred, Lana was beaten up by one of the perpetrators; she began shooting, unintendedly killing Ruby in the wardrobe. Back at Origin, she and Shun learn that the psychotic man is medic Max Taylor, who claims he was shot by Evelyn; Evelyn claims otherwise, however they agree something hit the ship that killed nearly everyone. Later, Max is revealed to be the true infected, and Shun shoots him. When Shun and Lana count the dead bodies, which should be ten, they only counted nine, meaning one escaped amid the massacre.

|LineColor = 000000

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 3

|Title = Bright Star

|DirectedBy = Mark Brozel & Paul W. S. Anderson

|WrittenBy = Mika Watkins

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|14}}

|ShortSummary = A flashback reveals that Evelyn left her dying father in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France to be a crew at Origin. When it reached interstellar space and was set to travel at the speed of light, everyone was instructed to go on hypersleep. The ship shook so roughly that she bumped her eyes. Max blindfolded them to slowly heal, and they grow romantic gradually. When Origin plans to slow down, they are instructed back to hypersleep again, when rocks began damaging the solar sails. Passengers, who remained in hypersleep throughout. begin dying. Those remaining were evacuated, while Evelyn searched for Taylor. She found him infected and violent. Back in the present, Shun and Lana agree that Evelyn can identify if any among them are infected. Eric is revealed to be one, as he attempted to suffocate Evelyn but then flees. Shun and Henri go look for him.

|LineColor = 000000

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 4

|Title = God's Grandeur

|DirectedBy = Mark Brozel

|WrittenBy = Mika Watkins & Melissa Iqbal

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|14}}

|ShortSummary = Before going on Origin, Henri was offered by the South African government to be a geneticist to assassinate President Jokonya who is deemed detrimental for the country's future. When the experiment succeeds, he has a panic attack. Back on Origin, Eric attacks Logan then flees. Logan saw a moving string in Eric's eye. While searching for him, Henri finds Max's eye having the same string. To learn about it, he cuts Max open and discovers an vertebrate alien lying in his brain, possibly responsible for altering his mentality. Eric lures Vaneisha who was supervising Evelyn to an airlock. Considering the greater good, Henri purges the airlock, killing Eric and Vaneisha, and he suffers a panic attack. After everyone goes to sleep, Henri returns to the airlock and sees an escape hatch.

|LineColor = 000000

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 5

|Title = Remember Me

|DirectedBy = Ashley Way

|WrittenBy = Mika Watkins & Joe Murtagh

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|14}}

|ShortSummary =

|LineColor = 000000

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 6

|Title = Fire and Ice

|DirectedBy = Ashley Way

|WrittenBy = Mika Watkins

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|14}}

|ShortSummary =

|LineColor = 000000

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 7

|Title = The Wasteland

|DirectedBy = Juan Carlos Medina

|WrittenBy = Mika Watkins & Jack Lothian

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|14}}

|ShortSummary =

|LineColor = 000000

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 8

|Title = Funeral Blues

|DirectedBy = Juan Carlos Medina

|WrittenBy = Mika Watkins

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|14}}

|ShortSummary =

|LineColor = 000000

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 9

|Title = A Total Stranger

|DirectedBy = Jonathan Teplitzky

|WrittenBy = Jon Harbottle

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|14}}

|ShortSummary =

|LineColor = 000000

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 10

|Title = I Am

|DirectedBy = Jonathan Teplitzky

|WrittenBy = Mika Watkins

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|14}}

|ShortSummary =

|LineColor = 000000

}}

Production

=Development=

On October 26, 2017, it was announced that YouTube had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes set to premiere in 2018. The series was created by Mika Watkins who was also expected to serve as a writer and executive producer alongside Andy Harries, Rob Bullock, and Suzanne Mackie from Left Bank and Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Midnight Radio, Left Bank Pictures, CiTVC, and Sony Pictures Television.{{cite web|last1=Jarvey|first1=Natalie|title=YouTube Red Orders Sci-Fi Drama From 'The Crown' Producers|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/youtube-red-orders-sci-fi-drama-crown-producers-1051631|website=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=February 6, 2018|language=en|date=October 25, 2017}}

On January 24, 2018, it was reported that the series would premiere sometime around the end of 2018.{{cite web|last1=Clarke|first1=Stewart|title=YouTube Launches Ad-Supported Original 'The Super Slow Show'|url=https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/youtube-the-super-slow-show-robert-kyncl-1202675301/|website=Variety|access-date=March 19, 2018|date=January 24, 2018}} On April 26, 2018, it was announced that Paul W. S. Anderson would direct the series' first two episodes.{{cite web|last1=Andreeva|first1=Nellie|title='Origin' YouTube Sci-Fi Series Sets Natalia Tena & Tom Felton As Leads, Paul W.S. Anderson As Director|url=https://deadline.com/2018/04/origin-natalia-tena-tom-felton-star-youtube-red-sci-fi-series-1202377246/|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=April 26, 2018|date=April 26, 2018}} On August 27, 2018, it was announced on the show's official Twitter account that the series would premiere on November 14, 2018.{{cite tweet |author=Origin |user=OriginSeries |number=1034108285924720643 |date=August 27, 2018 |title=This is the beginning. Be ready to #LeaveEarth: #OriginSeries premieres Nov. 14. |language=en |link=yes |access-date=August 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828150300/https://twitter.com/OriginSeries/status/1034108285924720643 |archive-date=August 28, 2018 |url-status=live}} On March 25, 2019, it was confirmed that YouTube had cancelled the series.{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/25/18280597/youtube-originals-canceled-origin-overthinking-with-kat-and-june-red-premium|title=YouTube cancels two original series but denies moving away from original content|last=Porter|first=Jon|work=The Verge|date=March 25, 2019|access-date=March 25, 2019}}

=Casting=

On April 26, 2018, it was announced that Natalia Tena, Tom Felton, Sen Mitsuji, Nora Arnezeder, Fraser James, Philipp Christopher, Madalyn Horcher, and Siobhán Cullen had been cast as series regulars and that Adelayo Adedayo, Nina Wadia, Johannes Johannesson, Wil Coban, and Tara Fitzgerald would also appear in the series.

=Filming=

Principal photography for the series took place in 2018 in South Africa.

Release

On July 19, 2018, a teaser trailer for the series was released.{{cite web |last1=Pedersen |first1=Erik |title='Origin': First Look At Tom Felton & Natalia Tena In YouTube Space Drama – Comic-Con |url=https://deadline.com/2018/07/origin-trailer-comic-con-panel-tom-felton-youtube-video-1202429692/ |website=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=July 19, 2018 |date=July 19, 2018}} On October 4, 2018, the first full-length trailer was released.{{cite web |last1=White |first1=Peter |title='Origin': YouTube Launches Trailer For Tom Felton & Natalia Tena Intergalactic Space Thriller |url=https://deadline.com/2018/10/origin-trailer-1202475773/ |website=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=October 4, 2018 |date=October 4, 2018}}

Reception

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series was holding a 69% approval rating with an average rating of 6.2 out of 10 based on 16 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Origin{{'}}s overstuffed space drama mimics many genre classics to varying degrees of success; thankfully, its stellar cast and withholding premise are intriguing enough to encourage exploring its mysterious -- if familiar -- corridors."